Auggie Turns Two!

Wowie-zowie, my little boy is growing up! Sure, he's still little, but two is an age filled with much more growth and abilities than I expected. Simply put, Auggie is excelling in life!

Auggie celebrated his second birthday, on October 16th, with a Robot party.

Auggie all dressed up for his Robot Birthday!

Language Acquisition

Auggie's vocabulary is unbelievable! For a two-year-old, I'm pretty sure that he not only knows more words than I can count, he can also pronounce each word so well that most strangers know what he's saying. Of course there are some words that he still mashes together, but it's super cute. (Only yesterday he started pronouncing "motorcycle" correctly, previously it was "motorskykle.") Dan and I help him pronounce words by having him repeat each syllable and then piece big words together.

Auggie is also rocking sentences. It seemed like for the longest time he was stuck in the land of one- or two-word phrases, but now he can easily piece three or more words together. Comprehension-wise, he's also doing great. He understands what we say, ask, and direct, and he responds however he deems appropriate, which means sometimes time-outs are involved. ;) When asked a question, about 50% of the time he repeats the question rather than responding, but that's certainly part of language development. And it's pretty cute. He's picking up on questions with a choice: "Auggie do you want cereal or granola for breakfast?" .. "A'nola brekfaaast."

Repetition must be one of the ways that Auggie learns. He repeats words constantly and is generally talking constantly–sometimes to our annoyance, but I encourage it regardless. This morning I was nursing Eland when Auggie woke up and started talking in his crib. He was repeating, "Dan.. Dan.. Dan.." in the exact same intonation that I use when asking Dan a question. Hopefully we're not loosing "Dada" here.. :)

Narration is also one of Auggie's learning vehicles. He talks about what he's doing while he's doing it. "Auggie really, really fast!" is what he says when he's running. "Auggie airplane!" is what he says when he's on an airplane or playing with his airplanes. "Auggie tractor!" "Auggie do it!" "Careful Auggie." "Auggie big jump." "Auggie hug." Etc etc etc. ... And yes, he refers to himself in the third person. I believe pronouns work in around three years, although I'm not positive. 

Words and Phrases

• Ambance: Ambulance
• Ten-ales: Toenails
• Paakpak: Backpack
• A'nola: Granola
• Dat one: That one
• Dine-soors: Dinosaurs
• Stella eat bekfast: Stella eat breakfast
• Ee-an: Eland
• Hot boon: Hot air balloon
• Airplane really, really fast
• Murray: Millie (our neighbor's cat)
• Ah caping: Camping
• Ah nin-ohs: Windows
• Ah baby seeping, ah baby hungry: Our baby sleeping, our baby hungry
• Auggie's turn, Ee-an's turn

"It" phrases:

• Dada wash it
• Bear find it
• Auggie see it
• Auggie try it
• Auggie touch it
• Mama take it
• Mama kiss it

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are currently interchangeable.

Likes

All things that go! Planes, trains, tractors, cars, trucks, dump trucks, diggers, sailboats, speedboats, bikes, firetrucks, ambulances, helicopters, and so on.

This is Auggie at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History - they have a lot full of old airplanes, army trucks, and missiles in back. BEST. DAY. EVER!!

Seahorse. AKA, his musical seahorse that's in his bed. He plays it when he falls asleep and when he wakes up at naptime, bedtime, and in the middle of the night. We used to hear his seahorse every time Eland woke up in the middle of the night to nurse, but Auggie must be used to Eland's cries, because we no longer hear the seahorse in the middle of the night, meaning that he's sleeping through Eland's wakings. 

Blocks. With which he builds towers! (His friend Nora taught him how to build them.)

I may have helped him with this tower. ;)

Our car! Auggie loves riding in our car and asks to on a daily basis.

Milk. He could drink a gallon a day, but generally is limited to when he wakes up in the morning and after naptime.

Hugs! And family hugs!

Jesus. :)

His family, his baby brother, his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. He talks about them all regularly.

Auggie and "Broer Ee-an"

Climbing. Which warms the cockles of his dad's heart.

Buttons, like computer buttons, which are "no touch!"

The alphabet and numbers.

Water, be it a bath, shower, or playing in the sink.

... and the list goes on ...

Bedtime

Dan generally puts Auggie to bed each night. They head upstairs anytime between 7:30-8pm, and Auggie brushes his teeth, uses the potty, changes into pajamas, reads books, prays, and then goes to bed with his seahorse. And there is no crying! There was a time that he cried nearly every night at bedtime, but for the past 4 or more months Auggie has gone to bed with no problems. He lays down, snuggles with his blankets and seahorse, and peacefully falls asleep. I imagine this has to do with age and routine. (Btw, for whatever reason it was usually when I put him to sleep that he cried, not with Dan.)

Mealtime

Auggie has a fantastic appetite. He eats plain yogurt with cereal or granola for breakfast. Occasionally it will be toast with cream cheese and jam, or pancakes, but he would be happy eating his usual yogurt plus cereal/granola any day of the week. For lunch he eats peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Sometimes homemade mac-and-cheese. Sometimes crackers with lunchmeat and cheese melted on them. (Which forces him to eat the meat.) Speaking of meat, Auggie is not much of a carnivore and only recently decided he likes some varieties of "hot meat." He'll eat his Nana's BBQ meatloaf, and taco meat, but he doesn't like chicken and will only sometimes eat honey ham lunchmeat plain. Ah well. 

What Auggie does love is couscous! He loves couscous! Although to tell you the truth, now that the weather is cooling off, he'll be eating it a lot less because even with a bib it is such a mess. It's much easier to brush him off outside rather than getting tiny couscous pieces all over the dining room rug. Auggie also likes noodles, aka "loodles." And with marinara sauce, he is required to eat shirtless because he has an affinity for sticking his hands inside his bib while eating. Ay yi yi..

Apples used to be a no-go, but now he will eat them. Crust on bread is not a problem. Chips are a treat. Peanut butter can be eaten without anything else, if allowed. And veggies are only a sometimes food. Auggie loves peas, but won't eat many other veggies. Lately I've been getting them in him via alternative methods: pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, white bean dip, etc. Yes, there's a lot of extra sugar involved, but it still counts, right??

Activities

Auggie is fantastic when it comes to engaging in activities. He loves coloring with crayons, although lately he prefers to tell me what to draw and what colors to use. He'll add in a little scribble here and there, but he likes to direct crayon art more than draw himself. Auggie loves playing with his toys and can sustain self play for a decent chunk of time. He talks while he plays, builds obstacle courses for his trucks, and even does "speed bumps" while riding around on his firetruck or airplane. 

I'd say Auggie gets about 1 hour or less of TV a week. He just doesn't sustain interest, but when he does sit and watch for even 10 minutes while I'm nursing Eland I do appreciate having him occupied. I'm certainly not worried about him watching too much, and now that we have some VeggieTales and Berenstain Bears DVDs I'm no longer slave to whatever's on, like Sesame Street and their new magic fairy episodes. (Arrgh, Harry Potter.)

Auggie and his best friend Nora watching VeggieTales

Sensory items are a delight for my Little Man! Auggie gets so excited when I let him wash his toys. This involves a beach towel on the floor in front of the kitchen sink, another one on a chair in front of the sink, and Auggie stripped down to his diaper. I give him the scrub brush, add some soap and water to one basin, give him some toys to "wash" and let him have at it. *Thrilling!!* ... In the future I plan to buy a bunch of dry beans, put them in a tub, and let Auggie search through them to find different items. I think he'd also enjoy counting and pouring the beans with cups.

Hey Buddy, you probably don't want to be drinking that soapy water..

Baking is another activity that I'm trying to involve Auggie in. Yes, it's a mess, but he loves it and it's fun to watch him explore with measuring cups, stirring, and even tasting. Last time I made banana muffins with him he definitely had more fun licking the batter than anything else. He certainly takes after his mom in that respect. 

Auggie is learning how to be a social creature! I trade babysitting with my friend Jen, so on a regular basis Auggie is playing with his friends Nora and Luke. This means learning how to share–not always an easy concept for a two-year-old–and learning how to play together. Nora is one week younger than Auggie (and was born in the same hospital in Illinois!) and when they were younger they would simply play next to each other. Now they play with each other and it is so fun to watch! Auggie and Dan also go camping with Auggie's friends Adrian and Asher. They have so much fun and always come home absolutely filthy. It's wonderful.

Nora and Auggie playing in the backyard

Getting ready for bedtime with Adrian and Asher

Climbing, as mentioned earlier, is simply part of Auggie's genetic code. Dan and I can't wait until Auggie and Eland are belaying each other.. :) Auggie is brave, nimble, and strong!

When Dada and Mama go climbing, Auggie gets to play with a special toy - his police car.

 Traveling

Auggie is already a world traveler, and recently flew all the way to Pennsylvania for his GiGi's 80th birthday celebration. (GiGi is Auggie's great-grandma.) Sitting next to Auggie during take-off is a riot: he gets soooo excited and giggles with excitement as the airplane "goes really, really fast." And when landing, he is glued to the window watching all of the houses pass by, and then checking out all the other airplanes at the airport. 

When living somewhere out of the ordinary, Auggie is a trooper. Napping is easy, as is eating and all other activities. Auggie loved being at GiGi's house and still talks about how much he misses her.

Auggie, GiGi, and Eland

Gigi and 8 out of 11 of her great-grandchildren

In the car Auggie is equally content. He loves "ah car" (aka our car) and asks about it at least once a day.  Snacks and water certainly help, but even if he doesn't have any toys, he's still a delight on several hour drives. When approaching our house there are five speed-humps if you go the right way. We count the speed-humps and he giggles as we go over them–this is what inspires the "speed bumps!" as he rides his firetruck.

Music

Auggie asks for music in the car, or alternatively will ask for "no music" too. I have to admit that I'm not much of a singer, but I really need to sing more with him as he adores it. Auggie will ask for the ABC song, or the Joy song, but does not yet participate in the singing himself. At bedtime Dan sings Auggie silly songs and all I can hear coming from the bedroom, besides the singing, is nonstop giggling. 

...

Overall, Auggie is such a cutie and such a joy. Dan and I love watching him as he grows and learns. We had no idea having kids would be this much fun.